Darren's Second Chance
by ferretgirlsz
Summary: What if Madam Octa didn't bite Steve? What would happen? Done for an English project, but loved it soo much, decided to post. R&R please! I have just set up a poll. Tell me if you think I should continue. Every opinion matters!


Ok, so here's the deal. This is a book report I did for English class, but I liked it soo much, I decided to post it up. Please don't flame or judge. Everything ends up pretty much the same as it should. Why? Because it's destiny! It's supposed to happen. So after this I'm not continuing, cause you all know what happens next…Take place in book 1, where Annie supposedly barges in, but instead, she doesn't.

**Darren Shan's Second Chance**

What if Steve wasn't bitten? Would Darren still have Madame Octa _and _his own humanity? Would he ever run into Mr. Crepsley again? What if Darren Shan was given a…second chance?

Disclaimer: Daren Shan isn't mine. too bad.

A soft knock was heard on the door. "Can I come in?" Annie asked.

"Hold on!" I said, opening Octa's cage. _Go in, _I thought. She crawled off of Steve, who was grinning like a madman, and settled inside. I quickly shut it and tossed it into the closet.

"Ok, come in!" I called to her. Annie opened my bedroom door and stepped inside.

"Mom wanted to know if Steve is staying for dinner." She said, smiling.

"Heck yeah!" exclaimed Steve, and we burst out laughing.

That Saturday night, Steve came to my house for a sleepover. We were talking all about the Cirque. We didn't need to worry about secrecy, because we were the only ones in the whole house.

"Hey, Darren?" Steve asked.

"Yeah?" I sat up from my sleeping bag. Steve had his eyes glued dreamily to my ceiling.

"What do you think Creepy Crepsley is doing?"

"Creepy Crepsley?" I asked, wondering where he thought of that nickname.

"The vampire, stupid! What do you think he's doing right now?" he stared at me seriously.

I shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe hunting people."

All of a sudden, my window swung open, and a tall figure in a red cape jumped in.

"Or perhaps I am right here, looking for my spider!" Mr. Crepsley stepped into the light, where we could see his orange crop of hair, the long scar, and the rage on his face.

Steve cursed from behind me, and I heard him darting around the room, looking for a weapon. But the towering vampire was not in a hurry. He calmly opened my closet door and picked up the cage.

Steve came back with some holy water my dad got from a friend, and a metal cross from my mom's rosary. He pointed the objects at Mr. Crepsley, expecting him to shrivel up and run. Instead, the vampire merely crushed the cross with his fingers and drank the holy water, to prove a point, and he laughed the whole time.

"You honestly believe those ridiculous myths? I am disappointed with you two. Especially you, Mr. Leonard, as you seem to be an expert on vampires." He winked and chuckled darkly. "Now, may this be a lesson to you boys. Never mess around with a vampire!" And he jumped out the window and disappeared into the black.

I stood up trembling, not even realizing I had fallen down. I looked at Steve, who was also shaky. He ran downstairs and came back, handing me a steak knife. We slept uneasily that night, holding the weapons close to our bodies, just in case…

I woke up late in the morning. Considering I was sleeping with a knife, I wasn't surprised to have three tiny cuts on my cheek. But I was surprised to see Steve awake already. He was munching on cereal. Hmm, he didn't have cuts. Lucky. I placed my knife back in the drawer.

"Are you ok, you know, with last night? You're up early." I stated.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Had some bad dreams, like someone came in last night and attacked you." He said through his Cheerios.

"You mean Mr. Crepsley, or someone else?" I asked, pouring myself a bowl.

"Someone else. This purple guy came into the room after we fell asleep and he sucked you dry, like a vampire." He started laughing. "Purple people! What a dream!"

"I'll say!" I chuckled. But somehow, the purple person seemed familiar to me. I shook my head. There's no such thing…is there?

We spent the afternoon at the park, playing soccer with Tommy and Alan. Then the four of us went to the movie theatre, to see the new action film. It wasn't really that good, but we still had fun anyway. It was dark when the movie ended, and my house was the opposite direction of the theatre as theirs, so I walked alone.

It was a beautiful night out, with a warm breeze, chirping crickets, and, footsteps? No, I must have been imagining things. I smiled to myself.

But I still felt paranoid a little, like someone was watching me. My fears were only confirmed when the footsteps grew louder, and more hurried.

Suddenly, I was knocked to the ground, with someone on top of me. At first I thought Steve was messing with me. But after twisting myself around and staring into two cold, red eyes, I knew this creature wasn't even human. He had purple skin with red hair, lips, eyes, and fingernails. Steve had described the exact same thing when he told me about his dream. And in the man's right hand was a long, sharp dagger!

I let out a scream and tried to push him off, but he was too heavy.

"Murlough is fast, he is." He snorted. "Very fast, hmm? Fast and frightening. Stop squirming, boy!" He rose his dagger up in the air, ready to strike.

_Swoosh! _Zipping past my head was a thrown knife, unarming the purple man known as Murlough. Murlough looked up at his attacker and smiled maliciously.

"You can't interfere, Crepsley! This is Murlough's meal. Get your own, hmm?"

I turned my head just so that out of the corner of my eye, I could see the tall, orange-haired vampire standing there, in a billowing red cape. I was mistaken to ever think he looked menacing until now, standing in a battle stance with raised weapons, like a warrior.

"Let go of the child, Murlough. He would not be a great loss to you. I am sure you have marked others." He spoke calmly in his deep voice, but it almost seemed like a snarl.

Murlough giggled creepily. "And what is the boy to you, hmm? To us? Nothing but food!" And with that statement he grabbed my ankle and sharply twisted it, causing me to cry out. Hot tears of pain flowed down my face.

Murlough giggled even more now. "No mother would approve of this. Always saying, 'never play with your food', hmm?" He picked up his dropped dagger.

Mr. Crepsley sighed. "If you must be so persistent, then…" He grabbed one of his knives and lunged at Murlough. They both fell to the ground, rolling around in a death lock. I sat there in the dark street, watching as two monsters battled it out while my ankle throbbed.

Murlough cackled. "Mark my words, Crepsley. I will make you pay if you ever interrupt my feeding again. Murlough very smart, very clever. I'll make you pay!" His cackles echoed through the whole town, and were a sound I would never forget.

As Murlough cackled, he let his guard down, and Mr. Crepsley threw him with great force into a dumpster. The force made the lid close.

Mr. Crepsley made his way over to me. I tried to get up, afraid I would be next. But I stopped struggling with myself when I saw the concern in his eyes. He knelt down beside me. "Are you ok?" he asked. I could only shrug.

"Can you walk?" He asked softly, glancing at my ankle.

I shook my head and spoke for the first time. "N-no." I croaked. "I don't th-think so."

A loud banging was heard as Murlough was trying to get back out of the dumpster. Mr. Crepsley looked at me in the eyes. "Do you trust me?"

I was silent for a moment. "I don't know." I responded.

He gripped my shoulders. "Darren Shan, do you want to live?" I could tell he wasn't joking.

"Of course!" I replied. He turned his back to me, still crouched down.

"Then you have to trust me and get on my back."

I bit my lip. Trust a vampire? How stupid did he think I was? Suddenly, Murlough burst through the lid, screeching. I yelped and scrambled onto Mr. Crepsley's back. Man, he was tall!

He stood up and turned the other direction, running at full speed. The world around us zoomed past in a blur. Mr. Crepsley himself wasn't running fast, it was just the world moving fast.

We came to an abrupt stop outside the abandoned theatre where the Cirque played last week. He helped me inside and sat me down on a wooden chair placed next to his coffin, which I shuddered at the sight of.

"So, what was that running thing you were doing?" I asked while he examined my ankle.

He looked up. "We vampires call it flitting. It is our way of getting around faster than humans."

"And that purple man. Murlot, wasn't it?"

"Murlough." He corrected. "He is a vampaneze. Hundreds of years ago they were vampires, but when our leaders decided that killing humans would cost us our lives, they rebelled when the law to feed carefully was passed, and they created their own race. Vampires do not kill the humans they feed upon, but vampaneze do.

"Murlough, however, has gone mad with blood consumption. Mad vampaneze never last as long as he has, since they become careless. But he has not forgotten the old ways."

"Old ways? What old ways?" I asked curiously.

He gave me a small smile that crinkled his scar. "I tend to forget children can be so curious. Vampaneze are traditionalists. They choose their next victim ahead of time, marking them with three scratches on the cheek." I rubbed my scratched cheek gently, and he nodded. "As soon as I had left with Madame Octa, I saw him slip into your room and mark you. But vampaneze never attack a person at home, hence the myth that we cannot enter your house, which by the way is false. So I followed you from the theatre, in case he was to attack you on your way home."

Oddly enough, I understood everything he said. "So wait, you scared him off, right? He won't attack again?"

He scratched his scar and frowned. "That, I do not know, and it is something I am still trying to figure out. Any sane vampaneze would leave town by now, but what would I know? I am not mad, and he is quite clever. But since you are marked, you may be attacked by another."

He was right. I was prey, and prey to anyone at that point. I looked for a solution desperately. "Do you know a way I could hide it or something?"

Mr. Crepsley looked away, almost in a hurt way, hurt and vulnerable. He traced his finger along the long scar on the left side of his face and sighed. "The scars of our past never leave us, and will always be visible." He looked back at me, stern again. "There may be a way to keep them from you, but I know you will not like it." He stood up and started pacing around. "Do you remember what your friend Steve and I discussed after the show?"

I thought back to what I saw while on the balcony. "Yeah, something about being a vampire's…assistant." Slow realization dawned on me. "So I'd have to become…"

He nodded solemnly. "I am afraid so, Darren. But the choice is strictly yours. I would make you into a half-vampire, allowing you to go out in the sunlight. You would run errands and do chores, and in return I will teach you the ways of the vampires."

"How does that solve my problem now? And what about my ankle?"

"Vampires heal faster than humans, so your ankle would heal within a few days. Also, vampire blood is poisonous to vampaneze, and vice versa, so anyone who would try to feed on you would probably end up dead. But that will not stop them from outright attacking you, which is why I will teach you to fight."

"And my family and friends? What becomes of them?" I asked.

Mr. Crepsley sighed. "As long as they were not marked, they will not be attacked. Unfortunately, the vampire lifestyle is a long and lonely one, trust me. We would have to fake your death if we want to leave quietly. That is why this is your choice and not mine."

I thought it over. Sad and lonely life or no life at all. I would have chosen the latter, but the same voice in my head that guided me to catch the ticket began to speak again.

_Darren, don't just throw your life away. You have been given a chance to live a long and adventurous one. Catch this opportunity into your web, little spider. Don't let it go._

That so familiar voice. The voice of fate, of…destiny.

"Alright, I'll be a vampire."

You see? Darren would have still became a vampire, but under different circumstances. Steve still would have sworn revenge on him for taking his dream and going behind his back, and all the plot lines of the original series would have continued. Ok, maybe a few things changed…but not much. For instance, the third book would have been the second time he encountered Murlough, and hopefully the last. But Darren was still destined to become what he is today, no matter what he chose. It was his destiny…


End file.
